


Switched Over.

by FeliciaAmelloides



Series: A Oneshot a Day... [199]
Category: Lord of the Flies - William Golding
Genre: Angst, Chapter 1 Ralph, Gen, Maurice is Chief, Piggy is an Evil Genius, Role Swap, Savages are actually not that bad, Shelter Building
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-15
Updated: 2018-07-15
Packaged: 2019-06-13 16:40:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,013
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15368835
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FeliciaAmelloides/pseuds/FeliciaAmelloides
Summary: The island during the construction of the second shelter, but everyone’s roles and personalities are (to an extent) switched. Maurice takes Ralph’s role as Chief, Jack and Piggy swap, Roger becomes Simon, etc...What will this new hierarchy do to the island? Find out here...((I couldn’t be bothered with the summary sorry))





	Switched Over.

**Author's Note:**

> What’s going on? I don’t really know!
> 
> I won two writing competitions yesterday, so I’m feeling pretty good. Honestly, my oneshots are awful, but I promise I can write better than that if it’s something I’m really passionate about!
> 
> So this oneshot:
> 
> Basically everyone’s character role changed. Maurice is the protagonist, Roger is the quiet mystic, Jack is the sensible sidekick, Ralph just wants some fun and Piggy is the antagonist. I didn’t put Simon in this, but if Roger is now Simon then I’m sure you can guess what Si is now like...
> 
> I tried to keep their personalities roughly the same to make things more interesting, but Maurice is more serious because he’s forced to take things seriously as Chief (basically I let him develop in the same manner as Ralph, who started off as somewhat uncaring, adventure-seeking and a not so great leader). Ralph retained his chapter 1 personality because he wasn’t forced to drop it as Chief. Jack and Roger were altered because I made Simon into a psychopath instead and I have a habit of idealising Jack.

The island got less fun over time, Ralph thought as he floated in the lagoon. The water was still warmer than his blood, but dirtier than before because of the large amount of grimy bodies swimming around in it. Oh well. The tide swept away the majority of it, he hoped.

“Ralph.” The blond frowned and looked up to see who had spoken. Maurice glared at him from up above, hands on his hips. 

“Uh?” Ralph looked into Maurice’s honey-brown eyes from the water. He was so serious. Why couldn’t he just let loose and have fun? They were on an island, after alL,

“Didn’t you say you were going to help work on the shelters?” The Chief’s voice was casual with a hint of annoyance. Ralph rolled over, then scrabbled for the sand to haul himself out of the lagoon.

“Fine.” He whined, feeling petulant all of a sudden. Maurice rolled his eyes as he headed off to the shelters. Ralph followed readily.

*

The shelters weren’t very crowded that day. Most people, like Ralph, had gone off to the bathing pool or the fruit trees, while the rest were off hunting with Piggy. The fat boy was shockingly good at hunting due to his intellect and strategical brilliance. Somehow he was able to catch pigs despite his crippling asthma. 

Jack and Roger were the only people who helped with the shelters regularly. Roger mysterious and rarely spoke, but he was also one of the nicer boys and actually didn’t mind helping Maurice get things done on the island. If no one else wanted to keep the fire going one night, he would volunteer, and when the littluns couldn’t reach the nicest fruit on the trees he’d gather it for them. Unfortunately, being kind and sensitive weren’t exactly good things in the eyes of all the other boys, and so Roger quickly became a social outcast.

As for Jack, he was a complete asshole yet also totally loyal to Maurice. His physical strength meant he was the best person for shelter-building, and his willingness to help made him the most valuable person on the island to the leader. Jack was sardonic and witty, often coming up with ideas no one else had thought of, but his stubborn loyalty to Maurice and the idea of ‘work’ meant he too was a social outcast. People especially hated Jack out of everyone in the island, Piggy in particular. Sometimes it was harder to ignore than he let on.

Jack and Roger looked up when Maurice entered the clearing where the shelters were. They were both holding the same large branch while Bill, who came and went intermittently, attempted to fasten it to the roof of their second shelter using several pieces of thick creeper woven together. The trio didn’t say anything to Maurice after acknowledging his presence for a while, lost in concentration.

“Done!” Bill exclaimed to the others with a smile. Jack sighed in relief and let go of the branch. Roger did the same after making sure it wasn’t going to fall with a breathy laugh.

“Looks like the roof’s about done now. Thanks guys.” Maurice said the last part in a rather sincere tone, dragging Ralph along behind him to the shelter. He appraised it diligently, glad it was all finally over. All they needed to do now was set up the inside of the shelter for people to sleep in.

“Should we start gathering branches for the next one?” Roger asked quietly. He hung back behind the others a little, shooting Ralph nervous glances every so often.

“Do we need another one? I’m sick of this.” Bill whined. Maurice turned on him.

“Of course we do! This is really important! Not all of us will fit in the two we have now, so we need a third to make sure everyone has somewhere to sleep. The rest of the littluns and some biguns can go in this shelter. Oh, and Roger, we need leaves for the inside of this one first.” Bill huffed and muttered darkly while Roger blushed from the humiliation of getting something wrong.

“Don’t be like that you lot. Maurice is right-” Jack started, but Ralph cut him off.

“You always say that! Maurice can’t be right about everything!” Jack’s light blue eyes cut to him, already turning to anger. He and Ralph had a strange, unspoken connection which no one really knew how to describe. It was that connection which sent sparks flying between them now.

“What would you know? You’re never here! When we built the first shelter you said you wanted to help, but now you never show up unless someone makes you and when you are here you don’t work. You’re-“ 

“You shut up!” Ralph’s voice rose alongside Jack’s, faces red with passion and anger. Maurice quickly stepped between them before a full on brawl could escalate.

“Okay, both of you. Cool down. Go gather some leaves, and we’ll sort out the inside of the shelter. Then we’ll get a few big branches for the new shelter and start work on it tomorrow. Alright?” Both boys also fell into dark mutters and heated glares before stalking off in opposite directions. Bill took this as an opportunity to escape too, leaving only Maurice and Roger in the clearing.

Maurice flopped backwards into the grass with a long sigh. He really hated being Chief sometimes. A rustle beside him caught his attention, and he tilted his head slightly to see Roger had gone down next to him. Their eyes met, then they both looked away.

“Are you okay?” Roger’s voice was so soft and quiet, but weirdly monotonous as well. He was batty, but Maurice kind of liked him anyway.

“Why can’t they understand how important all of this is? We can swim, run around and hunt later. The shelters and the fire are what keep us alive.” Roger nodded sagely, but seemingly had nothing to say. Maurice sighed again. If only there was someone else on the island who he could talk to about all this.

**Author's Note:**

> I liked the concept of this one, but I worry it was a bit confusing. Sorry if it was...
> 
> Prompt- Lotf but all the roles are switched. 
> 
> I already had a prompt like this, but whatever, I still managed to write a new oneshot from it using a very different angle so I guess it doesn’t matter all that much.
> 
> Original Number- 96.


End file.
